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Didn't get to the store today, but this works out for me whether to save $4 or not. Was Taskmaster #1 a good read (for some reason it's reminding me of that Deadshot mini Gage wrote even though it really doesn't seem to be the same type of story)?

I totally stole that scan from scans_daily, so I couldn't say. Though it broke my heart to pass on it, I'm standing by my decision not to buy any more new series in singles. Likewise, I Am an Avenger looked awesome, and I had to fight with myself not to buy it.

I continue to be entertained heartily with the Shadowland stuff. The first issue of the Moon Knight tie in was a bit of a dissapointment though.

But my MOTW goes to the Silver Samurai:

Spoiler:

Who was killed by the Red Right Hand in their quest to kill everyone Wolverine has ever known. He gave as good as he got though and killed everyone who came after him, succumbing to his wounds afterward and dying near his sister's grave.

Didn't get to the store today, but this works out for me whether to save $4 or not. Was Taskmaster #1 a good read (for some reason it's reminding me of that Deadshot mini Gage wrote even though it really doesn't seem to be the same type of story)?

I'm actually kind of disappointed by it, but I think it has more to do with me than it does with the story. My problem, specifically, is that I've always viewed Taskmaster's power - "photographic reflexes", or whatever they call it - as an ability to instantly manufacture muscle-memory after seeing an action performed. The premise of the Taskmaster mini is that all the things that Taskmaster has learned how to do are overwriting all of his other memories.

Why this bothers me: I don't think brains work like that. OK, yeah, I know, it's dumb to complain about inaccurate brain-workings in a comic, especially when the character in question can look at a dude do a somersault and then immediately replicate it, but look, as far as I know, procedural memory (involved in knowing how to do things) is completely separate from declarative memory (involved in knowing and recalling facts). Saying that one is overwriting the other to me sounds like saying that your arms are getting so strong they're replacing your legs. This is one area where I have trouble suspending my disbelief. NERDRAGE

Other than this, I mean, it's pretty well-written and stuff. There are some great moments where Taskmaster's old pupils in Hydra are reminiscing about what he taught them.

Total aside: I don't understand how Taskmaster can be such a great teacher. He's taught everyone from Hydra to US government agents, right? But how? Yes, he knows every superhero's moves, but he knows them on an instinctive level, no? He didn't LEARN how to do a somersault through practice, he just looked at Daredevil do it and now he can do it. That doesn't mean he can impart knowledge on how to do it on someone else! Isn't it like asking a fish to teach me how to swim? To a fish, you just... do it.

Total aside: I don't understand how Taskmaster can be such a great teacher. He's taught everyone from Hydra to US government agents, right? But how? Yes, he knows every superhero's moves, but he knows them on an instinctive level, no? He didn't LEARN how to do a somersault through practice, he just looked at Daredevil do it and now he can do it. That doesn't mean he can impart knowledge on how to do it on someone else! Isn't it like asking a fish to teach me how to swim? To a fish, you just... do it.

In the old UDON Taskmaster series, it showed that he does actually have to study some stuff in order to replicate it. Specifically, he spends the night watching a tape in fast-forward, in order to fake superspeed.

Plus, I think that being able to perform certain actions instinctively would give him a really good sense of how the body works, and how to move certain parts in conjunction to achieve the desire effect.

I remember him teaching Walker how to use Cap's shield when he was taking on the Captain America mantle. He's obviously able to analyse the abilities he picks up, they don't stay completely instinctual.

Little do you guys know about Taskmaster quietly taking evening classes for his teaching credential for the last few years. He doesn't just want to wear capes and punch Captain America, people. He wants to make a difference.

motw: Jeff Smith's mastery of the line. I finally read through all of the complete Bone. Never read more than an issue here or there. Now that I was finally in the mood for it and had the chance to sit down with the whole thing: wow, deserves its accolades! Dude is really pro with the expressive but almost classical-comic-strip-y lines. He could convey one of the Bones' moods just drawing a single outline of their head.

I always assumed that his power had to do with replicating explicitly physical actions. I mean, if he listened to people talk about the three-body problem, would he become a master physicist?

A lot of teaching comes down to body language and delivery of the material. If he at some point figured that out, it wouldn't be too hard for a guy with his skillset to slot in Beginning Team Combat Tactics in place of, say, kickball.

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TexiKenthere's a blandness about you that's very powerfulRegistered Userregular

I always took Taskmaster learning an ability is like learning to ride a bike; once he learns it he just gets it in his head of how to do it. When he taught John Walker how to throw Cap's shield he basically did it in a "watch me, now you do it" type thing.

I don't like the idea he forgets stuff as he learns more things, that's kind of a weak premise to hinge some flaws to his abilities. Now I'm hesitant to buy the issue.

I will say this: Van Lente pulls out several Hydra- and AIM-like organizations that try to attack Taskmaster (some are old, existing groups, and some are his own inventions), and those are pretty great. Like the Black Choppers, a group of bikers wearing black leather jackets with a large pyramid with the all-seeing eye emblazoned on their backs. They perform tasks for their mysterious overlords, and, as it turns out in the scan posted above, are actually gray aliens.

It's too bad I'm not digging this mini, because I love Taskmaster and I love Fred Van Lente. Oh well, I'll always have the UDON mini-series.

Secret Six #25, I don't want to say it but Simone needs to take things down a bit, she seems to be spreading the plots in too many directions right now.

There's some great scenes, like so:

Spoiler:

But you also get a story that is a bit too padded with Simone pet characters, and is a bit confusing in it's pacing. And Catman imitates Citizen Steel and punches a kitty (Stargirl wouldn't like that). It's still a good book but could have done with a plot or two less, especially coming off of some fill-in issues.

I assumed, when I read that line, that Simone was foreshadowing an eventual confrontation between the two. Giganta and Ryan's relationship always seemed a bit on-off, where they wouldn't see each other for a while. So I imagine this arc will have her finding out that he's dead, that Dwarfstar was responsible, and then dealing with it.

It seems like the kind of thing Simone would want to wrap up, and there's really no better place to do it.

Also, I kinda want to see Giganta join the team full-time, maybe kicking Black Alice off.

I assumed, when I read that line, that Simone was foreshadowing an eventual confrontation between the two. Giganta and Ryan's relationship always seemed a bit on-off, where they wouldn't see each other for a while. So I imagine this arc will have her finding out that he's dead, that Dwarfstar was responsible, and then dealing with it.

It seems like the kind of thing Simone would want to wrap up, and there's really no better place to do it.

Also, I kinda want to see Giganta join the team full-time, maybe kicking Black Alice off.

The way Catman is basically having a complete mental breakdown, I wouldn't mind seeing him go live in Africa for an arc or two and someone from Bane's team replacing him.

I remember him teaching Walker how to use Cap's shield when he was taking on the Captain America mantle. He's obviously able to analyse the abilities he picks up, they don't stay completely instinctual.

This is how i'd see it working. Task Master has seen the best in the business do their things, he knows exactly how it should be done, then he see's his students attempting it and compares the two and works out exactly whats been done wrong.

Discovering Radical Comics thanks to Munch's suggestion re: Last Days of American Crime is a serious contender. $5.00 for an issue which is almost a slim TPB with glossy pages and no ads? $1.00 for nicely printed normal floppy books to kick off the #1 issues? And American Crime itself hits a lot of heist buttons so that's a winner, but I had to branch out and grab two issues of Shrapnel for its pleasingly grimdark sci-fi digi-painty styles.

1 Month 2 Live stars a dude who tries to be a good samaritan and is forced to ingest medical waste. This both gives him super powers (some sort of molecular level TK, reshapes matter when he touches it) but also gives him roughly a month to live before his cancer kills him. He bumps into Spider-Man and the FF. Is it weird that I'm ready to watch a guy die on the pavement in a street level Marvel NY story? Still, not quite MOTW worthy yet.

Sea Bear and Grizzly Shark! Everyone in GV was right, and this is in fact a deliciously bad B-movie double feature in comic book form.

Wolverine #1 was fairly well drawn but otherwise horrible, except for the Last Stand of the Silver Samurai extra in the back, which I loved almost more than anything else this week:

Spoiler:

But I think the weekly award has to go to: Getting a copy of the hardcover of The Amazing Screw-On Head signed by Mike and Katie Mignola.

p.s. Texiken I flipped through secret six but was slightly lost as a non-DC dude. I need to see about a trade paperback.

p.p.s Munch they didn't have any atomic robo on hand but I have been meaning to start following it anyway, so it's on the to-do list.

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TexiKenthere's a blandness about you that's very powerfulRegistered Userregular

It's ok to have more than one moment of the week, some weeks have good stories. I mean there was a week where Thanos Imperative and Doomwar came out the same week, to neglect one would be akin to child abuse.

But yeah Secret Six was not friendly to new readers, even as it would be the start of a new arc.